GC: Comparative Essay

Find your student number in the left column. Then move to the far right; your content score tells you how effectively you responded to the prompt overall in terms of our general rubric. More on this in a moment. Next to the content score is a column indicating any bonus credit earned. If you followed the MLA requirements exactly, turned your essay in on time, and uploaded it to Turnitin, you were given 50/50 bonus points. If you failed in any of those areas, you received no penalty (i.e., no zero), but there is no bonus.

In between your student number and these scores is a very brief set of comments about your particular paper. These comments do not address every aspect of your paper; instead, they touch on key strengths and weaknesses. Here is a key to the abbreviations used:

D=detail, specifics, evidence

D/novel=specifics from the novel

A1=arrangement, organization, paragraphing

M=meaning, analysis, insight

A2=intro, approach, and thesis statement

G=grammar and mechanics

E=ending, conclusion

S=style and voice, especially word choice and sentence variety

Some of you will also receive individualized commentary over the next few days. Regardless, you may schedule a conference with me before, during, or after school to workshop your writing or review this commentary. In general:

Format and prescribed structureThis essay was analytical in nature, and our focus as we prepared for it was to be precise and insightful with that analysis. You read, watched, and discussed two versions of The Invisible Man; we catalogued and compared important details; and you worked over several weeks, in and out of class, to couple that data to collaborative insight. Most importantly, you were given these resources on March 7th:

This first full essay will be completed in steps and largely in class. Here is the overview, outline, and guide:

Finally, you will be asked to pay careful attention to the transitional language you use. To convey the relationship between ideas, whether those ideas are separated within a sentence, between sentences, or between paragraphs, you will use this list:

This was a flexible structure, but one that you could simply insert your details and meaning into, if need be. Any reflection you do now must, therefore, start with a simple question: How much did you use the resources given to you?

Further arrangementWithin those guidelines, you were given suggestions about how to sequence details, meaning, and interpretative analysis. Your thesis statements generally hit the mark, but your paragraphs are often disorganized. Your second step in reflecting, then, is to consider how focused each paragraph is on one idea, and whether each sentence supports that idea. Consider the Christensen method of paragraph analysis, as well, and look back at the work we’ve done all year with paragraphing. Then consider how you’ve moved between ideas. You should see language from the VirtualSalt guide in the first sentence of every paragraph, and then again when you shift from discussing the novel to discussing the film.

DetailThe last element to consider is your use of detail. If the evidence you’ve chosen is not accurate, varied, and aptly used, you did not write an adequate paper. Did you make errors with key plot details? Did you focus only on one or two pages of text, ignoring the rest of the novel?

As you reflect, you should read the following exemplar paper. This is an effective response that utilizes the prescribed format to deal with issues of authorial choice and character investment. Consider this essay next to your own: